SubC Imaging

Vision Underwater

Clarenville, NL-based SubC Imaging is a world leader in revolutionary and reliable solutions for video, imaging, and lighting requirements in the offshore and subsea markets. Founded in 2010, the company has enjoyed over 100 per cent growth each year and attributes its success to a commitment to quality and the passion of its people.

SubC made a big splash with its first camera, which enabled Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) pilots to upload standard definition (SD) footage through existing cables while high definition (HD) footage was recorded to the camera itself, to be uploaded once the ROV was on the surface. This technology proved to be an industry game-changer, allowing offshore suppliers to bid on projects that may have previously been out of scope due to HD requirements.

It is through this kind of insightful thinking and relevant innovation that SubC has become a renowned ocean-imaging innovator with an increasingly global reach and reputation.

The company was the brainchild of Chance Cove, NL native, Chad Collett. Collett, SubC’s Co-owner and CEO, was an offshore project engineer who felt he could improve upon the quality and efficiency of the underwater cameras he saw being used in the industry. It was this motivation that saw him enlist the help of longtime friend and fellow engineer, Adam Rowe, now SubC’s Co-owner and VP. Both Collett and Rowe are graduates of NL-based College of the North Atlantic (CNA).

Since its inception, SubC has placed great emphasis on the development of not only groundbreaking hardware, but also intuitive, custom-made software, enabling the company to provide clients with robust and comprehensive systems, right out of the box.

“We have a 4k camera in development,” says Rowe, regarding one of SubC’s latest projects, a camera that, when released, will be the highest resolution subsea camera on the market, trumping the current best, also a SubC product. “But what’s different about what we do is that, instead of just releasing a 4k camera, we’ll have an entire package. We’ll have the 4k camera, we’ll have the 4k DVR, and we’ll have integrated software to control it all.”

SubC is exploring new technological depths for harsh, subzero, ice-infested environments, with an eye on future demand for Arctic applications.“We’ve put temperature monitoring into all of our equipment,” says Collett. “In the Arctic, where it can get to minus-50, that’s kind of important.

“There’s definitely going to be more demand for technology with an Arctic focus. As things develop, we’re already going to be there. We’re going to be ready for it instead of trying to catch up.”

Ron Collier, SubC’s VP of Business Development, echoes the sentiment, and says that there is no better place than Newfoundland and Labrador to conduct this kind of research and development.

“We call it our ‘Cold Ocean Laboratory’ because we can do a lot of testing here that’s hard to do anywhere else in the world,” says Collier. “The Arctic is just that next step.”

The favourable environment also extends to the infrastructure and support for ocean technology that is so abundant in the province.“Provincial and Federal programs have been really helpful, such as the Provincial Government’s Innovate and Demonstrate program,” says Collier. This program allows technology developers to partner with established offshore and subsea operators to conduct trials of their products in the field, with funding awarded based on this real-world application of the technology.

Currently seeking to add to its approximately 12-strong team of highly-skilled employees, success and growth seems set to continue for SubC Imaging, a Newfoundland and Labrador company with a clear vision for the future of underwater video, imaging and lighting technology.

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